OPEN LETTER TO SHOWTIME NETWORKSregarding the cancellation of "The Borgias"

The most hardcore fans of "The Borgias" can remember June 5, 2013 as the day rugs were pulled from under our feet. After airing eight out of ten episodes of Season 3, Showtime announced “The Prince” would be not only a season finale but a Series Finale.

After the initial shock wore off, we hoped the Network executives would be true to the official statement and give us a satisfying finale. We all knew there was too much to be covered in only two episodes. But even if reason told us not to, we hoped.

After watching the finale with heavy hearts, the consensus amongst fans is that it was not, by any means, a series finale. Not a Series Finale. Period! That's not to say that we didn't love the episode, because we did. But it's clear that it was never meant to be the final one. That, of course, is no surprise, since "The Prince" was never written or filmed to be the series finale.

We realize a lot more happened behind the "scenes" that might have led to this decision and that we, the fans, will probably never know all the details. Still, we feel the need to openly address claims that Showtime Networks Inc has officially stated were some of the reasons for canceling the show, all of which seemed to say that the decision not to move forward with the series was made by the creator.

According to media coverage, while filming a pivotal scene in the Season 3 finale, Neil Jordan said that Jeremy Irons turned to him and said that “this feels like the end of something, that the family has come to an end.” Most of us have watched "The Borgias" from the first episode. We know the family dynamics as if they were our own, but we can't find one person capable of showing us what supports this comment. Maybe a scene lost on the cutting room floor? In "The Prince," we saw the family as tight and together as ever! Cesare is finally at peace with his father and ready to conquer Romagna. Rodrigo finally trusts his son without reservation, giving him the Papal Army's command. Vanozza is in the good graces of all. Could Irons possibly have been referring to Lucrezia and her father's conversation? But, how could that be? This element seems just too small, given the whole picture, to be enough to declare the Borgias family story to be over. In fact, the family appears to be ready to rise and conquer not fall.

In between the lines, we saw media coverage stating that a fourth season wasn't even pitched to Showtime. While mulling a potential fourth season, media told us that Mr. Jordan said that he wasn’t sure he had enough material for ten episodes and wasn’t sure whether Showtime would want to commit to another season either. If this was true, didn't Showtime have the option to hire other writers to pen the fourth season and ask Mr. Jordan to work as a consultant, letting the heavy work be done by others?

We all read that according to Mr. Jordan, ”As a compromise, I proposed to finish the arc of all the characters with a two hour movie” and when Showtime commissioned the script, he wrote it. “When they looked at what it could cost, it was just too expensive”. Mr. Jordan said, “Sadly, that’s what happened. I would have loved to bring all the characters to a conclusion. All of the actors were heartbroken we couldn’t continue, and so was I.” Of course, many are wondering if, in fact, Neil Jordan was heartbroken, why he couldn't continue? With so much still to come after "The Prince" episode, fans are confident that the talented Mr. Jordan and his staff would have had plenty of story upon which to draw for another season, so why pitch a movie and not a final season? The show is, after all, about the entire Borgia family not just Pope Alexander VI. So, the question remained, was it true that a fourth season wasn't even pitched?

Using a movie to wrap up and end a series is not the usual choice that a network makes, so does this movie pitch seem like Mr. Jordan was giving up on the show or was it a true attempt to save some grace and closure for everyone involved, including the fans? Of course, most fans would prefer a complete season. They feel that a two hour movie won't be able to really give the series the proper ending that it and the fans deserve, because there is too much left to tell us for all of it to fit into a movie. But it seems that even when the commissioned movie script was offered to Showtime, Mr. Nevins even nixed this attempt at closure for the show and the fans. “Ultimately the show was designed as a regular series, and I was reluctant to do an extra two hour disconnected from the whole that could be potentially anti-climactic,” Showtime’s Entertainment president, David Nevins said. Nevins went on to say, “Now we have a nice upward build towards the finale. We have a nice ending, a good climax, and I didn’t want to muck it up with an afterthought.” Sorry, Mr. Nevins, but that won't hold water with the fans.

The Showtime executives, producers, and, even Mr. Jordan, should realize that one of the amazing side effects of this spectacular production is that most fans have been inspired to read as much history as they can find about the actual Borgia family. People are finding the facts and are asking for more. Cesare being created Duke of Romagna? Lucrezia's third marriage? What happens to Micheletto? Where's Isabella d'Este? Leonardo da Vinci and this papacy? All elements that titillate!

We now have it on good authority that the decision to cancel "The Borgias" had nothing to do with Mr. Jordan, the actors or the production company. We feel confident that Mr. Jordan loves his creation as much as the fans and will continue to make every effort to give the Borgia family their proper conclusion. As for how Jordan envisioned "The Borgias" to end, “I wanted a totally biblical ending, for the Pope to burn in hell,” he said. Mr. Jordan told media that this is how he wrote the proposed two hour finale, with the Pope dying and no one willing to hear his confession. When a confessor is finally found and the Pope starts to repent his sins, the confessor interrupts him, saying, “I’m sorry, it’s too late, you’re already dead and burning in hell.” Mr Jordan went on to say about his proposed film ending, “This satisfies all moral feelings about the Pope”. Epic and engaging, but to "bring all the characters to a conclusion" while planning to end with the Pope's death, doesn't quite feel completely right to the fans who will be left wanting to watch what happens to the rest of the family once Pope Alexander VI dies. And, to be honest, the majority of the fans have no need to have their moral feelings satisfied. People only have to read the actually history of the family if what they seek is to soothe their moral feelings.

It is blatantly clear from interviews with cast and producers that "The Borgias" was intended to last for four seasons (like the series, "The Tudors"). Season 3 was green lit with lower ratings than the show had when it was canceled. So, we are left to wonder what happened? It can't be ratings, because these have been getting better. Episode 8 of Season 3 was a ratings series high! All thanks to word of mouth, because advertising for this show has been non-existent, especially after Season 1! The main reason ratings are not higher is because Showtime has failed to market The Borgias. How can a show thrive that way? "The Borgias" fan base has grown almost solely from word of mouth and fans' social media. As a result, fans are left surmising that canceling the show had little to do with its quality or viewer pleasure, but as a way to make room for Mr. Nevins' new papacy-related drama. Of course this is just conjecture. Still, it is crossing the minds of many who can make no other sense out of the premature canceling of "The Borgias".

We, the fans, love our Borgias, every dark and tantalizing thing about them , even the unholy and taboo love between Cesare and Lucrezia. François Arnaud's and Holliday Grainger's chemistry have lit up our television screens from their first scene in the first episode of the series. Their love is their salvation, but also their doom, and it consumes the audience's attention. Just like Jeremy Iron's captivating portrayal of Pope Alexander VI makes us boo and cheer for him all in the same moment, while making us forgive him for not looking a thing like the actual Pope. It is these brilliant actors, superb writing, amazing sets and costumes, beautiful cinematography, and crisp editing that makes this series exceptional. It entertains and propels the fans to do research and learn more about this family that we have all come to hate and love!

So, Mr. Nevins. we might not disagree that finishing the series with a two hour film is not the best choice. But expecting the fans to affirm that finishing the series this way with "The Prince", meant to be a season finale, is a "nice ending, a good climax", well, that is where we fervently disagree! No, Mr. Nevins, a great season finale does not a series finale make.

Your viewers are too smart to fall for that!

TM 2013 Save The Borgias Fan Campaign. All rights reserved.

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